Cellulase variants with reduced inhibition by glucose

ABSTRACT

A Family 6 cellulase variant enzyme comprising one or more than one amino acid substitution selected from a basic, polar or non-polar amino acid at position 103, a valine or isoleucine at position 136, a tyrosine at position 186, a glutamic acid or glutamine at position 365 and a glutamine at position 410 is provided (said position determined form alignment of the parental Family 6 with SEQ ID NO: 1). Genetic constructs and genetically modified microbes comprising DNA sequences encoding the Family 6 cellulase variant are also provided. Family 6 cellulases of the invention display reduced inhibition by glucose relative to the parent Family 6 cellulases. Such cellulases find use in a variety of applications in industry, e.g., in the hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock, that require cellulose activity in the presence glucose concentrations that would otherwise inhibit the activity of the parental enzyme.

This application claims benefit of prior provisional application No. 61/022,101 filed Jan. 18, 2008.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to cellulase variants. More specifically, the invention relates to Family 6 cellulase variants with reduced inhibition by glucose. The present invention also relates to genetic constructs comprising nucleotide sequences encoding for Family 6 cellulase variants, methods for the production of Family 6 cellulase variants from host strains and the use of Family 6 cellulase variants in the hydrolysis of cellulose.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cellulose is an unbranched polymer of glucose linked by β(1→4)-glycosidic bonds. Cellulose chains can interact with each other via hydrogen bonding to form a crystalline solid of high mechanical strength and chemical stability. The cellulose chains must be depolymerized into glucose and short oligosaccharides before organisms, such as the fermenting microbes used in ethanol production, can use them as metabolic fuel. Cellulase enzymes catalyze the hydrolysis of the cellulose (hydrolysis of β-1,4-D-glucan linkages) in the feedstock into products such as glucose, cellobiose, and other cellooligosaccharides. Cellulase is a generic term denoting a multienzyme mixture comprising exo-acting cellobiohydrolases (CBHs), endoglucanases (EGs) and β-glucosidases (βG) that can be produced by a number of plants and microorganisms. Enzymes in the cellulase of Trichoderma reesei include CBH1 (more generally, Cel7A), CBH2 (Cel6A), EG1 (Cel7B), EG2 (Cel5), EG3 (Cel12), EG4 (Cel61A), EG5 (Cel45A), EG6 (Cel74A), Cip1, Cip2, β-glucosidases (including, e.g., Cel3A), acetyl xylan esterase, β-mannanase, and swollenin.

Cellulase enzymes work synergistically to hydrolyze cellulose to glucose. CBH1 and CBH2 act on opposing ends of cellulose chains (Barr et al., 1996), while the endoglucanases act at internal locations in the cellulose. The primary product of these enzymes is cellobiose, which is further hydrolyzed to glucose by one or more β-glucosidases.

The kinetics of the enzymatic hydrolysis of insoluble cellulosic substrates by cellulases do not follow simple Michaelis-Menten behaviour (Zhang et al., 1999). Specifically, increasing the dosage of cellulase in a hydrolysis reaction does not provide a linearly dependent increase in the amount of glucose produced in a given time. There is also a significant decrease in the rate of reaction as cellulose hydrolysis proceeds (Tolan, 2002). Several explanations have been proposed to explain the decline in the reaction rate; the major hypotheses include substrate heterogeneity (Nidetsky and Steiner, 1993; Zhang et al., 1999), enzyme inactivation (Caminal et al., 1985; Converse et al., 1988; Gusakov and Sinitsyn, 1992; Eriksson et al., 2002), and product inhibition (Lee and Fan, 1983; Caminal et al., 1985; Holtzapple et al., 1990; Gusakov and Sinitsyn, 1992; Eriksson et al., 2002; Gruno et al., 2004).

Inhibition of enzymes by the products of the reactions they catalyze has long been recognized; the phenomenon was known to Henri, Michaelis, and Menten, all pioneers in the field of enzymology (Frieden and Walter, 1963). The nature of product inhibition may be competitive, as product competes with substrate to form the same interactions with the enzyme, but other forms of inhibition are possible. Indeed, due to the insoluble nature of cellulose and the challenges it poses as a substrate in kinetic studies, there have been many conflicting reports as to the nature of inhibition in the cellulase system (Holtzapple et al., 1990, and references therein). The cellobiohydrolases are subject to inhibition by their direct product, cellobiose, and to a lesser degree by the glucose produced by the further hydrolysis of the cellobiose by β-glucosidase. One technique for reducing cellulase inhibition is to increase the amount of β-glucosidase in the system (U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,703), as cellobiose is more inhibitory to cellulases than glucose (Holtzapple et al., 1990; Teleman et al., 1995). Inhibition can be mitigated by altering the primary sequence of the protein using DNA mutagenesis guided by rational design or applied randomly. For example, rational design was used to target the Y245 residue in Cel5A, an endoglucanase, for mutagenesis, which resulted in an increase in its cellobiose inhibition constant (U.S. Publication No. 2003/0054535).

There are relatively few reports of engineering Cel6A (also known as cellobiohydrolase II or CBH2), a major cellobiohydrolase of the T. reesei (also known as Hypocrea jecorina) cellulase system, for desirable properties. St-Pierre et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2008/0076152) have shown that substitution of the naturally occurring amino acids at the equivalent of positions 231, 305, 410 and 413 in the T. reesei Cel6A sequence to serine or threonine (positions 231 and 305), glutamine or asparagines (position 410) or proline (position 413) increase thermostability, thermophilicity and/or alkalophilicity of a Family 6 cellulase. Wohlfahrt et al. have enhanced the stability of the protein by forming amide-carboxylate pairs through mutagenesis at residues E107, D170 and D366 (U.S. Publication No. 2004/0152872). Rational design was also applied to a related cellobiohydrolase, Cel6B from Thermobifida fusca, to relieve inhibition by cellobiose (Zhang et al., 2000). Mutations at Cel6B residues equivalent to W269, H266, and E399 in the Cel6A sequence were shown to reduce cellobiose inhibition, but at a significant cost to activity on crystalline cellulose. Another approach, based on the consensus sequence derived from an alignment of Cel6A sequences from several species (U.S. Publication No. 2006/0205042), identified 38 amino acids associated with improved thermostability (specifically: V94, P98, G118, M120, M134, T142, M145, T148, T154, L179, Q204, V206, I212, L215, G231, T232, V250, Q276, N285, S291, G308, T312, S316, V323, N325, I333, G334, S343, T349, G360, S380, A381, S390, F411, S413, A416, Q426 and A429). The authors speculate that these mutations may also affect product inhibition and/or enzyme processivity, but offer no data or specific hypotheses based on modeling to associate changes in these properties with the claimed residues. The consensus approach is designed to generate protein variants with improved thermodynamic stability (Steipe, 2004) and it does not provide predictive power for the improvement of any other biochemical property.

Although cellulase compositions have been described previously, there remains a need for new and improved compositions for use in the conversion of cellulose into fermentable sugars and for related fields of cellulosic material processing such as pulp and paper, textiles and animal feeds. Cellulases with improved performance decrease the cost of the processes and typically offer substantial environmental benefits when compared to the equivalent chemical and/or physical processes. For example, the production of fuel ethanol from cellulose delivers substantial environmental and economic benefits. When compared to gasoline, using ethanol as a fuel significantly reduces net carbon emissions by fixing the carbon dioxide released during combustion back into the biomass grown as feedstock for further ethanol production. Using agricultural biomass as feedstock can also stimulate rural economies and reduce dependence on foreign petroleum. Producing ethanol from cellulose rather than starch, as for corn ethanol, or sugar has the additional benefit of avoiding competition with the production of foodstuffs for humans and animals. The US Departments of Agriculture and Energy estimate that 30% of transportation fuel use in America, the largest petroleum market in the world, could be displaced by using cellulosic fuel without affecting food harvests (Perlack et al., 2005). Additionally, due to the low energy input required to generate cellulosic biomass, it has been estimated that the use of cellulose ethanol reduces net greenhouse gas production by 88% when compared to gasoline whereas using corn ethanol produces a decrease of only 18% (Farrell et al., 2006).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to Family 6 cellulase variants. More specifically, the invention relates to Family 6 cellulase variants that exhibit reduced inhibition by glucose. The present invention also relates to genetic constructs comprising nucleotide sequences encoding for Family 6 cellulase variants, methods for the production of Family 6 cellulase variants from host strains and the use of the Family 6 cellulase variants in the hydrolysis of cellulose.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved cellulase with reduced inhibition by glucose.

This invention relates to a Family 6 cellulase variant comprising one or more of the amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of:

a basic, non-polar or proline residue at position 103 (X103H, K, R, A, V, L, P, M),

a valine or isoleucine residue at position 136 (X136V, I),

a tyrosine or lysine residues at position 186 (X186Y, K),

an acidic, glutamine or serine residue at position 365 (X365D, E, Q, S), and

an alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue at position 410 (X410A, F, L, Q, S).

The positions of the amino acid substitution(s) are determined from sequence alignment of the Family 6 cellulase variant with a Trichoderma reesei Cel6A amino acid sequence as defined in SEQ ID NO: 1. The basic amino acid at position 103 may be a histidine, arginine or lysine or the non-polar amino acid at position 103 is an alanine, valine, methionine or leucine. The Family 6 cellulase variant of the present invention exhibits at least about 1.4-fold less inhibition by glucose than the parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived. For example, the Family 6 cellulase variant may exhibit from about 1.4-, 1.5-, 1.6-, 1.8-. 2.0-, 2.5-, 3.0-, 3.5, 4-, 5-, 6, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, 12-, 13-, 14-, 15-, 16-, 17-, 18-, 19- or 20-fold less inhibition by glucose than the parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived.

In one embodiment of the invention, the Family 6 cellulase variant of the present invention has an amino acid sequence that is at least about 45% to about 100% identical to the amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO: 1. For example, the Family 6 cellulase variant may have an amino acid sequence that is at least about 55% to about 100% identical to the amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO: 1, or at least about 63% to about 100% identical to the amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO: 1

In still another embodiment, the Family 6 cellulase variant of the present invention has an amino acid sequence that is least about 95% identical to amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO: 1

The Family 6 cellulase variant may be derived from a parental Family 6 cellulase that comprises one or more naturally-occurring amino acid(s) at the substituted positions corresponding to that of the Family 6 cellulase variant, but that is otherwise identical to the Family 6 cellulase variant, for example a native Family 6 cellulase from Neocallimastix patriciarum, Orpinomyces, or Thermobifidia fusca. The parental Family 6 cellulase may contain one or more amino acid substitutions at other positions, given that these substitutions are also present in the corresponding Family 6 cellulase variant.

This invention also includes a Family 6 cellulase variant as defined above and further comprising one or more of an isoleucine, valine, threonine, tyrosine or glutamine residue at position 134, an isoleucine residue at position 215 and a proline residue at position 413. The Family 6 cellulase variant comprising these mutations may be from a filamentous fungus, such as Trichoderma reesei.

The present invention also relates to Family 6 cellulase variants exhibiting at least 1.4-fold less inhibition by glucose than a parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived, said Family 6 cellulase variant being selected from the group consisting of:

TrCel6A-Y103A-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 37);

TrCel6A-Y103H-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 38);

TrCel6A-Y103K-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 39);

TrCel6A-Y103L-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 40);

TrCel6A-Y103M-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 41);

TrCel6A-Y103P-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 42);

TrCel6A-Y103R-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 43);

TrCel6A-Y103V-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 44);

TrCel6A-L136I-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 45);

TrCel6A-L136V-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 46);

TrCel6A-S186K-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 47);

TrCel6A-S186Y-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 48);

TrCel6A-G365D-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 49);

TrCel6A-G365E-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 50);

TrCel6A-G365Q-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 51);

TrCel6A-G365S-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 52);

TrCel6A-R410A-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 53);

TrCel6A-R410F-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 54);

TrCel6A-R410L-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 55);

TrCel6A-R410Q-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 56);

TrCel6A-R410S-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 57);

TrCel6A-M134V-L136I-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 62);

TrCel6A-L136I-L215I-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 63);

TrCel6A-M134V-L136I-L215I-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 71);

HiCel6A-Y107K (SEQ ID NO: 78);

HiCel6A-Y107L (SEQ ID NO: 79);

HiCel6A-Q139T (SEQ ID NO: 80);

HiCel6A-L141V (SEQ ID NO: 81);

HiCel6A-A194Y (SEQ ID NO: 82);

PcCel6A-Y98K (SEQ ID NO: 83);

PcCel6A-Y98L (SEQ ID NO: 84);

PcCel6A-L131I (SEQ ID NO: 85);

PcCel6A-L131V (SEQ ID NO: 86);

PcCel6A-S182K (SEQ ID NO: 87);

PcCel6A-S182Y (SEQ ID NO: 88);

PcCel6A-G359Q (SEQ ID NO: 89);

PcCel6A-R404Q (SEQ ID NO: 90);

Furthermore, the present invention also relates to genetic constructs for directing expression and secretion of the Family 6 cellulase variant from a host microbe including, but not limited to, strains of Trichoderma reesei or Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The present invention relates to genetic construct comprising a DNA sequence encoding A Family 6 cellulase variant having one or more of a basic, non-polar or proline residue at position 103, a valine or isoleucine residue at position 136, a tyrosine or lysine residue at position 186, an acidic, glutamine or serine residue at position 365, or an alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue at position 410, which DNA sequence is operably linked to DNA sequences regulating its expression and secretion from a host microbe. Preferably, the DNA sequences regulating the expression and secretion of the Family 6 cellulase variant are derived from the host microbe used for expression of the isolated cellulase. The host microbe may be a yeast, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or a filamentous fungus, such as Trichoderma reesei.

The invention also relates to a genetic construct as defined above, wherein the Family 6 cellulase variant encoded by the genetic construct further comprises one or more of a valine or threonine residue at position 134, an isoleucine residue at position 215 and a proline residue at position 413. Preferably, the DNA sequences regulating the expression and secretion of the Family 6 cellulase variant are derived from a filamentous fungus, including, but not limited to, Trichoderma reesei.

The invention also relates to a genetically modified microbe comprising a genetic construct encoding the Family 6 cellulase variant and capable of expression and secretion of a Family 6 cellulase variant comprising one or more of a basic, non-polar or proline residue at position 103, a valine or isoleucine residue at position 136, a tyrosine or lysine residues at position 186, an acidic, glutamine or serine residue at position 365, or an alanine, phenyl alanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue at position 410. In one embodiment, the Family 6 cellulase variant further comprises one or more of a valine or threonine residue at position 134, an isoleucine residue at position 215 and a proline residue at position 413. Preferably, the genetically modified microbe is a yeast or filamentous fungus. More preferably, the genetically modified microbe is a species of Saccharomyces, Pichia, Hansenula, Hypocrea, Trichoderma, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Humicola or Neurospora.

The present invention also relates to the use of a Family 6 cellulase variant comprising one or more of a basic, non-polar or proline residue at position 103, a valine or isoleucine residue at position 136, a tyrosine or lysine residues at position 186, an acidic, glutamine or serine residue at position 365, or an alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue at position 410 for hydrolysis of a cellulosic substrate.

The invention also relates to a process of producing the Family 6 cellulase variant as defined above, including transformation of a yeast or fungal host with a genetic construct comprising a DNA sequence encoding the Family 6 cellulase variant, selection of recombinant yeast or fungal strains expressing the Family 6 cellulase variant, and culturing the selected recombinant strains in submerged liquid fermentations under conditions that induce the expression of the Family 6 cellulase variant.

Family 6 cellulase variants of the present invention comprising one or more of a basic, non-polar or proline residue at position 103, a valine or isoleucine residue at position 136, a tyrosine or lysine residues at position 186, an acidic, glutamine or serine residue at position 365, or an alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue at position 410 display reduced glucose inhibition relative to the parental Family 6 cellulases from which they are derived. Family 6 cellulase variants, as described herein, cellulases find use in a variety of applications in industry that require high concentrations of cellulosic substrates and enzymes that can retain high activity in the presence of normally inhibitory concentrations of the glucose produced from such substrates. For example, Family 6 cellulase variants, as described herein, may be used for the purposes of saccharification of lignocellulosic feedstocks for the production of fermentable sugars, or improving the digestibility of feeds in ruminant and non-ruminant animals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an amino acid sequence alignment of 35 fungal Family 6 cellulases to amino acids 83-447 of Trichoderma reesei Cel6A (TrCel6A; SEQ ID NO:1). The amino acid numbering for each cellulase is as indicated at the left and right of each sequence. The residues at positions 103, 134, 136, 186, 215, 365, 410, and 413 (relative to TrCel6A) are indicated with an arrow. For cellulases with a cellulose-binding domain, only the catalytic core sequences are presented. CfCel6B (SEQ ID NO:2); HiCel6A (SEQ ID NO:3); HiCel6B (SEQ ID NO:4); MtCel6A (SEQ ID NO:5); NpCel6A (SEQ ID NO:6); OpC2Cel6F (SEQ ID NO:7); PcCel6A (SEQ ID NO:8); PE2Cel6A (SEQ ID NO:9); TfCel6A (SEQ ID NO:10); TfCel6B (SEQ ID NO:11).

FIG. 2 depicts plasmid vector YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P directing the expression and secretion of parental and variant TrCel6A cellulases from recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

FIG. 3 depicts plasmid vector Yep352/91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-6H-Hi(Pc)Cel6A directing the expression and secretion of native and variant HiCel6A or PcCel6A from recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

FIG. 4 depicts data demonstrating the activity of TrCel6A-S413P on Sigmacell50 which has been treated with a cellulase free of Cel7A and Cel6A. The cellobiohydrolase-free cellulase is added at the start of data acquisition and there is no discernable effect on apparent absorbance. Five minutes after the start of data collection, TrCel6A-S413P is added and the apparent absorbance begins to decrease. The activity of the Cel6A is proportionate to the slope of the linear portion of the decrease in absorbance. Activity in the absence of glucose and in the presence of the highest concentration of glucose used, 50 g/L, is shown. Data represent averages of 5 replicates and error bars represent one standard deviation.

FIG. 5 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P.

FIG. 6 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-Y103K-S413P.

FIG. 7 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-M134T-S413P.

FIG. 8 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-L136I-S413P.

FIG. 9 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-S186Y S413P.

FIG. 10 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-G365Q-S413P.

FIG. 11 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-R410F-S413P.

FIG. 12 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-M134V-L136I-S413P.

FIG. 13 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-L136I-L215I-S413P.

FIG. 14 shows the effect of increasing glucose concentration on the relative activity of the TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-M134V-L136I-L215I-S413P.

FIG. 15 shows the activity of TrCel6A-S413P and TrCel6A-L215I-S413P in the presence of 10 g/L glucose.

FIG. 16 shows SDS-PAGE analysis of parental Family 6 cellulases and Family 6 cellulase variants purified as described in Example 8 (TrCel6A-S413P) and Example 13 (HiCel6A variants, panel A) and PcCel6A variants (panel B). The purified Family 6 cellulases were visualized by Coomassie blue staining.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to Family 6 cellulase variants. More specifically, the invention relates to Family 6 cellulase variants with reduced inhibition by glucose relative to the parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived. The present invention also relates to genetic constructs comprising nucleotide sequences encoding for Family 6 cellulase variants, methods for the production of Family 6 cellulase variants from host strains and the use of the Family 6 cellulase variants in the hydrolysis of cellulose.

The following description is of a preferred embodiment by way of example only and without limitation to the combination of features necessary for carrying the invention into effect.

DEFINITIONS Family 6 Cellulase Variants

Family 6 (previously, Family B) cellulases enzymes are a group of enzymes that hydrolyse the beta-1,4 glucosidic linkages in cellulose with inversion of configuration of the anomeric carbon (Claeyssens, M. and Henrissat, B. 1992). Most of the Family 6 cellulases identified thus far are mesophilic. However, this family also includes thermostable cellulases from Thermobifida fusca (TfCel6A and TfCel6B of FIG. 1) and the alkalophilic cellulases from Humicola insolens (HiCel6A and HiCel6B of FIG. 1).

FIG. 1 and Table 1 show that there is a high degree of conservation of primary amino acid sequence among most of the cellulases of Family 6. Multiple alignment across 35 currently known Family 6 cellulase amino acid sequences shows that the most naturally occurring Family 6 cellulases of fungal origin show from about 47% to about 100% amino acid sequence identity to amino acids 83-447 of TrCel6A (FIG. 1 and Table 1); Family 6 cellulases of bacterial origin show a much lower degree of amino acid sequence identity to TrCel6A.

A cellulase is classified as a Family 6 cellulase if it comprises amino acids common to other Family 6 cellulase, including two aspartic acid (D) residues which may serve as catalytic residues. These aspartic acid residues are found at positions 175 and 221 (see FIG. 1; based on TrCel6A numbering). By “TrCel6A numbering”, it is meant the numbering corresponding to the position of amino acids based on the amino acid sequence of TrCel6A (Table 1; FIG. 1; SEQ ID NO:1). As is evident by FIG. 1, Family 6 cellulases exhibit a substantial degree of sequence similarity. Therefore, by aligning the amino acids to optimize the sequence similarity between cellulase enzymes, and by using the amino acid numbering of TrCel6A as the basis for numbering, the positions of amino acids within other cellulase enzymes can be determined relative to TrCel6A. Methods to align amino acid sequences are well known and available to those of skill in the art and include BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, see URL: blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi) which is useful for aligning two sequences and CLUSTALW (see URL: ebi.ac.uk/Tools/clustalw2/index.html) for alignment of two or more sequences.

The conservation of overall three-dimensional structure provides further guidance to the alignment of the primary amino acid sequences of Family 6 cellulases. The topology of Family 6 catalytic domains is a variant of the α/β-barrel with a central β-barrel containing seven parallel β-strands connected by five α-helices. One important difference between Family 6 cellobiohydrolases and endo-β-1,4-glucanases is the length of their N- and C-terminal loops present on each side of the active site and which are responsible for their functional behavior on cellulose. In the cellobiohydrolases, an extensive C-terminal loop forms a tunnel with the N-terminal loop enclosing the active site. This confers the unique property of cellobiohydrolases to attack the ends of crystalline cellulose where the N- and C-terminal loops maintain a single cellulose chain in the active site and facilitate the processive degradation of the substrate. In the endo-β-1,4-glucanases, the C-terminal loop is reduced in length and the N-terminal loop pulls it away from the active site and could also be shorter resulting in a more open active site allowing access to internal β-1,4 glycosidic bonds of cellulose for hydrolysis. The role of these loops in the functional behavior of Family 6 enzymes on cellulose was confirmed by the deletion of fifteen amino acids of the C-terminal loop of the Cellulomonas fimi cellobiohydrolase Cel6B in order to mimic the properties of an endo-β-1,4-glucanase (Meinke, A., et al. 1995.). The mutation enhanced the endo-β-1,4-glucanase activity of the enzyme on soluble cellulose, such as carboxymethylcellulose, and altered its cellobiohydrolase activity on insoluble cellulose.

For the purpose of this invention, a “Family 6 cellulase” is defined as an enzyme capable of hydrolyzing polysaccharides using an inverting mechanism and characterized by having an α/β-barrel structure with a central β-barrel containing seven parallel β-strands connected by five α-helices an amino acid sequence that is from about 47% to about 100% identical to the amino acids 83 to 447 of SEQ ID NO:1, representing the Family 6 catalytic domain of TrCel6A. For example, a Family 6 cellulase may have an amino acid sequence that is about 47%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or 100% identical to the amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO: 1. One of skill in the art recognizes that the amino acid sequence of a given Family 6 cellulase may be modified by the addition, deletion or substitution of one or more amino acids and still be considered a Family 6 cellulase. Techniques for altering amino acid sequences include, but are not limited to, site-directed mutagenesis, cassette mutagenesis, random mutagenesis, synthetic oligonucleotide construction, cloning and other genetic engineering techniques as would be known by those of skill in the art (Eijsink V G, et al. 2005., which is incorporated herein by reference). Non-limiting examples of Family 6 cellulase that may be modified following the general approach and methodology as outlined herein are provided in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Family 6 Cellulases SEQ ID Identity with TrCel6A Organism Protein NO: catalytic domain (83-447) (%) Hypocrea koningii cellobiohydrolase II (Cbh2) 2 98.9 Trichoderma viride CICC cellobiohydrolase II 3 98.9 13038 (CbhII; Cbh2) Hypocrea koningii 3.2774 cellobiohydrolase II 4 98.1 (Cbh2; CbhII) Hypocrea koningii cbh2 5 97.8 AS3.2774 Trichoderma parceramosum cellobiohydrolase II 6 97.8 (CbhII) Aspergillus nidulans FGSC cellobiohydrolase 7 72.4 A4 (AN5282.2) Aspergillus niger CBS An12g02220 8 72.4 513.88 Aspergillus oryzae RIB 40 AO090038000439 9 67.8 Aspergillus niger CBS An08g01760 10 67.7 513.88 Acremonium cellulolyticus cellobiohydrolase II (Acc2) 11 67.3 Y-94 Talaromyces emersonii cellobiohydrolase II 12 66.8 (CbhII) Gibberella zeae K59 Cel6-Cel6 13 66.1 Fusarium oxysporum endoglucanase B 14 66.1 Neurospora crassa OR74A NCU09680.1 (64C2.180) 15 65.9 Aspergillus nidulans FGSC AN1273.2 16 65.5 A4 Aspergillus tubingensis unnamed protein product 17 65.5 (fragment) Magnaporthe grisea 70-15 MG05520.4 18 65.4 Chaetomium thermophilum unnamed protein product 19 65.1 Chaetomium thermophilum cellobiohydrolase (Cbh2) 20 65.0 CT2 Stilbella annulata unnamed protein product 21 64.9 Humicola insolens avicelase 2 (Avi2) 22 63.7 Humicola insolens cellobiohydrolase (CBHII)- 23 63.1 Cel6A Cochliobolus heterostrophus cellobiohydrolase II (CEL7) 24 59.6 C4 Agaricus bisporus D649 cellobiohydrolase II 25 57.7 (Cel3; Cel3A) Polyporus arcularius 69B-8 cellobiohydrolase II (Cel2) 26 57.1 Lentinula edodes Stamets cellulase-Cel6B 27 56.3 CS-2 Lentinula edodes L54 cellobiohydrolase (CbhII-1) 28 56.0 Malbranchea cinnamomea unnamed protein product 29 54.9 Phanerochaete cellobiohydrolase II 30 54.9 chrysosporium Volvariella volvacea cellobiohydrolase II-I 31 53.8 (CbhII-I) Chrysosporium lucknowense cellobiohydrolase 32 49.5 (EG6; CBH II)-Cel6A Pleurotus sajor-caju cellobiohydrolase II 33 47.2 Trametes versicolor ORF 34 47.0 Neurospora crassa OR74A NCU03996.1 35 46.8 Magnaporthe grisea 70-15 MG04499.4 36 45.1

By “Family 6 cellulase variant” or “modified Family 6 cellulase”, it is meant a Family 6 cellulase which comprises one or more than one the following amino acid substitutions: the amino acid at position 103 has been replaced by a basic, non-polar or proline residue; the amino acid at position 136 has been replaced by a valine or isoleucine residue; the amino acid at position 186 has been replaced by a tyrosine or lysine residue; the amino acid at position 365 has been replaced by an acidic, glutamine or serine residue; or the amino acid at position 410 has been replaced by an alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue; said position determined from sequence alignment of said isolated cellulase with a Trichoderma reesei Cel6A amino acid sequence as defined in SEQ ID NO:1. It will be understood that the Family 6 cellulase variant may be derived from any Family 6 cellulase. For example, the Family 6 cellulase variant may be derived from a wild-type cellulase or from a cellulase that already contains other amino acid substitutions. In one embodiment of the invention, the Family 6 cellulase variant exhibits reduced inhibition by glucose over the corresponding parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived.

By “wild type” or “native” Family 6 cellulase, it is meant a Family 6 cellulase having an amino acid sequence as encoded by the genome of the organism that naturally produces such Family 6 cellulase without the introduction of any substitutions, deletions, additions or modifications. For example, by wild type TrCel6A, wild type HiCel6A and wild type PcCel6A it is meant the cellulases of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 23 and SEQ ID NO: 30 respectively, without any amino acid substitutions.

By “parental Family 6 cellulase”, it is meant a Family 6 cellulase that exhibits at least 1.4-fold less inhibition by glucose and comprises one or more naturally-occurring amino acid(s) at the mutated positions corresponding to that of the Family 6 cellulase variant, but that is otherwise identical to the Family 6 cellulase variant. The parental Family 6 cellulase does not include those cellulases in which the naturally-occurring amino acid at position 103 is a basic, non-polar or proline residue, the naturally occurring amino acid at position 136 is a valine or isoleucine residue, the naturally occurring amino acid at position 186 is a tyrosine or lysine residue, the naturally occurring amino acid at position 365 is an acidic, glutamine or serine residue, and/or the naturally occurring amino acid at position 410 is an alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue. This definition encompasses parental Family 6 cellulases that contain one or more additional amino acid substitution at other positions that have been introduced by genetic engineering or other techniques, provided that these substitutions are also present in the corresponding Family 6 cellulase variant. For example, the parental cellulase may contain a mutation of the amino acid at position 413 (TrCel6A numbering) to a proline to confer increased thermostability.

TABLE 2 Family 6 cellulase variants Protein SEQ ID NO: TrCel6A-Y103A-S413P 37 TrCel6A-Y103H-S413P 38 TrCel6A-Y103K-S413P 39 TrCel6A-Y103L-S413P 40 TrCel6A-Y103M-S413P 41 TrCel6A-Y103P-S413P 42 TrCel6A-Y103R-S413P 43 TrCel6A-Y103V-S413P 44 TrCel6A-L136I-S413P 45 TrCel6A-L136V-S413P 46 TrCel6A-S186K-S413P 47 TrCel6A-S186Y-S413P 48 TrCel6A-G365D-S413P 49 TrCel6A-G365E-S413P 50 TrCel6A-G365Q-S413P 51 TrCel6A-G365S-S413P 52 TrCel6A-R410A-S413P 53 TrCel6A-R410F-S413P 54 TrCel6A-R410L-S413P 55 TrCel6A-R410Q-S413P 56 TrCel6A-R410S-S413P 57 TrCel6A-Y103L-L136I- 58 S413P TrCel6A-Y103L-S186Y- 59 S413P TrCel6A-Y103L-G365Q- 60 S413P TrCel6A-Y103L-R410Q- 61 S413P TrCel6A-L136I-S186Y-S413P 64 TrCel6A-L136I-G365Q- 65 S413P TrCel6A-L136I-R410Q- 66 S413P TrCel6A-S186Y-G365Q-S413P 67 TrCel6A-S186Y-R410Q-S413P 68 TrCel6A-G365Q-R410Q-S413P 69 TrCel6A-M134V-L136I-S413P 62 TrCel6A-L136I-L215I-S413P 63 TrCel6A-M134V-L136I-L215I-S413P 71 TrCel6A-Y103L-S186Y-G365Q-S413P 70 TrCel6A-Y103L-L136I-S186Y-G365Q- 72 S413P TrCel6A-Y103L-S186Y-G365Q- 75 R410Q-S413P TrCel6A-Y103L-L136I-S186Y-G365Q- 77 R410Q-S413P TrCel6A-L136I-S186Y-G365Q- 76 R410Q-S413P TrCel6A-Y103L-L136I-G365Q-R410Q- 74 S413P TrCel6A-Y103L-L136I-S186Y-R410Q- 73 S413P HiCel6A-Y107K 78 HiCel6A-Y107L 79 HiCel6A-Q139T 80 HiCel6A-L141V 81 HiCel6A-A194Y 82 PcCel6A-Y98K 83 PcCel6A-Y98L 84 PcCel6A-L131I 85 PcCel6A-L131V 86 PcCel6A-S182K 87 PcCel6A-S182Y 88 PcCel6A-G359Q 89 PcCel6A-R404Q 90

Reduced Glucose Inhibition

Glucose inhibition of cellulases is measured by determination of the inhibition constant K_(G), defined as the concentration of glucose which reduces the activity of the cellulase by 50%. The value of K_(G) is not dependent on the nature of product inhibition—i.e., competitive, non-competitive or mixed-type. Cellulases that are less inhibited by glucose will have a higher value for K_(G)—i.e., it takes a higher concentration of glucose to reduce the enzyme activity by 50%.

For the purposes of the present invention, a Family 6 cellulase variant exhibits reduced glucose inhibition with respect to the corresponding parental Family 6 cellulase if it has a K_(G) which is at least 1.4-fold, or at least about 1.8-fold, higher than that of the parental Family 6 cellulase. The K_(G) is the concentration of glucose which reduces the activity of the isolated and parental Family 6 cellulases by 50% and is determined by the assay detailed in Example 9.

The Family 6 cellulase variant may have a K_(G) which is about 1.4-fold higher than that of a corresponding parental Family 6 cellulase, or about 1.8-fold higher. For example, the Family 6 cellulase variant may have a K_(G) that is at least about 1.4-, 1.5-, 1.6-, 1.8-, 2.0-, 2.5-, 3.0-, 3.5-, 4.0, 4.5-, 5.0-, 5.5-, 6.0-, 6.5-, 7.0-, 8.0-, 10.0-, 12.0-, 15.0- or 20.0-fold higher than that of the corresponding parental Family 6 cellulase.

Examples of Family 6 cellulase variants exhibiting reduced inhibition by glucose are shown in Table 2.

Genetic Constructs Encoding Family 6 Cellulase Variant

The present invention also relates to genetic constructs comprising a DNA sequence encoding the Family 6 cellulase variant operably linked to regulatory DNA sequences directing the expression and secretion of the Family 6 cellulase variant from a host microbe. By “regulatory DNA sequences” it is meant a promoter and a DNA sequence encoding a secretion signal peptide. The regulatory DNA sequences are preferably functional in a fungal host. The regulatory DNA sequences may be derived from genes that are highly expressed and secreted in the host microbe under industrial fermentation conditions. In a preferred embodiment, the regulatory sequences are derived from any one or more of the Trichoderma reesei cellulase or hemicellulase genes.

The genetic construct may further comprise a selectable marker gene to enable isolation of a genetically modified microbe transformed with the construct as is commonly known to those of skill in the art. The selectable marker gene may confer resistance to an antibiotic or the ability to grow on medium lacking a specific nutrient to the host organism that otherwise could not grow under these conditions. The present invention is not limited by the choice of selectable marker gene, and one of skill in the art may readily determine an appropriate gene. In a preferred embodiment, the selectable marker gene confers resistance to hygromycin, phleomycin, kanamycin, geneticin, or G418, complements a deficiency of the host microbe in one of the trp, arg, leu, pyr4, pyr, ura3, ura5, his, or ade genes or confers the ability to grow on acetamide as a sole nitrogen source.

The genetic construct may further comprise other DNA sequences, for example, transcriptional terminators, DNA encoding peptide tags, synthetic sequences to link the various DNA sequences together, origins of replication, and the like. The practice of the present invention is not limited by the presence of any one or more of these other DNA sequences.

Genetically Modified Microbes Producing Family 6 Cellulase Variants

The Family 6 cellulase variant may be expressed and secreted from a genetically modified microbe produced by transformation of a host microbe with a genetic construct encoding the Family 6 cellulase variant. The host microbe may be a yeast or a filamentous fungus including, but not limited to, a species of Saccharomyces, Pichia, Hansenula, Trichoderma, Hypocrea, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Humicola, or Neurospora. For example, the host microbe may be Saccharomyces cerevisiae or an industrial strain of Trichoderma reesei. Typically, the host microbe is one which does not contain a gene encoding a Family 6 cellulase or from which the gene(s) encoding any or all Family 6 cellulases have been deleted.

The genetic construct may be introduced into the host microbe by any number of methods known by one skilled in the art of microbial transformation, including but not limited to, treatment of cells with CaCl₂, electroporation, biolistic bombardment, PEG-mediated fusion of protoplasts (e.g. White et al., WO 2005/093072, which is incorporated herein by reference). After selecting the recombinant fungal strains expressing the Family 6 cellulase variant, the selected recombinant strains may be cultured in submerged liquid fermentations under conditions that induce the expression of the Family 6 cellulase variant.

The Use of Family 6 Cellulase Variant in the Hydrolysis of Cellulosic Substrates

The Family 6 cellulase variant of the invention is used for the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. The Family 6 cellulase variants of the present invention are particularly useful for the hydrolysis of cellulose-containing substrates under conditions where an inhibitory level of glucose is present or accumulates. For example, the Family 6 cellulase variants of the present invention may be useful in processes in which the initial starting concentration of cellulose is about 20 g/L and in which about 50% of the cellulose will be converted to glucose or in which the initial starting concentration of cellulose are as high as about 200 g/L and in which about 5% of the cellulose will be converted to glucose. For example, the initial cellulose concentration may be 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 120, 150 or 200 g/L and about 50%, 33%, 25%, 20%, 17%, 12%, 10%, 8%, 7% or 5% of the cellulose, respectively, is converted to glucose. In the case of using the parental TrCel6A-S413P in such processes, the concentration of glucose will therefore be similar to the K_(G) of the enzyme and reduce its activity by about 50% (Table 5, FIG. 5).

For example, the Family 6 cellulase variant of the present invention may be used for the enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulose present in “pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock.” A pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock is a material of plant origin that, prior to pretreatment, contains at least 20% cellulose (dry wt) and at least 10% lignin (dry wt), and that has been subjected to physical and/or chemical processes to make the fiber more accessible and/or receptive to the actions of cellulolytic enzymes. After pretreatment, the lignocellulosic feedstock may contain greater than about 20% cellulose and greater than about 10% lignin. In one embodiment, the pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock contains greater than about 20% cellulose and greater than about 12% lignin. Non-limiting examples of pretreatment processes include chemical treatment of a lignocellulosic feedstock with sulfuric or sulfurous acid, or other acids; ammonia, lime, ammonium hydroxide, or other bases; ethanol, butanol, or other organic solvents; or pressurized water (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,461,648, 5,916,780, 6,090,595, 6,043,392, 4,600,590, Weil et al. (1997) and Öhgren, K., et al. (2005)).

Lignocellulosic feedstocks that may be used in the invention include, but are not limited to, agricultural residues such as corn stover, wheat straw, barley straw, rice straw, oat straw, canola straw, and soybean stover; fiber process residues such as corn fiber, sugar beet pulp, pulp mill fines and rejects or sugar cane bagasse; forestry residues such as aspen wood, other hardwoods, softwood, and sawdust; or grasses such as switch grass, miscanthus, cord grass, and reed canary grass. The lignocellulosic feedstock may be first subjected to size reduction by methods including, but not limited to, milling, grinding, agitation, shredding, compression/expansion, or other types of mechanical action. Size reduction by mechanical action can be performed by any type of equipment adapted for the purpose, for example, but not limited to, a hammer mill.

By the term “enzymatic hydrolysis”, it is meant a process by which cellulase enzymes or mixtures, including those comprising the Family 6 cellulase variant of the present invention, act on cellulose to convert all or a portion thereof to soluble sugars. By the term “cellulase mixture”, it is meant a mixture of enzymes which decomposes cellulose and comprises one or more “endoglucanases”, enzymes that hydrolyze beta-1,4 glycosidic bonds within cellulose chains, “cellobiohydrolases” or “exoglucanases”, enzymes that sequentially cleave cellobiose from either the reducing or non-reducing end of a cellulose chain, and one or more “beta-glucosidases”, enzymes that hydrolyzes cellobiose to glucose. A cellulase mixture may contain other enzymes or proteins in addition to endoglucanases, cellobiohydrolases and beta-glucosidases.

The enzymatic hydrolysis process preferably converts about 80% to about 100% of the cellulose to soluble sugars, or any range therebetween. For example, the enzymatic hydrolysis process converts about 90% to about 100% of the cellulose to soluble sugars, or any range therebetween. In a preferred embodiment, the enzymatic hydrolysis process converts about 98% to about 100% of the cellulose to soluble sugars, or any range therebetween.

Preferably, the primary cellulases are produced in one or more submerged liquid culture fermentations and separated from the cells at the end of the fermentation. The cells may be separated from the cellulases by filtration, centrifugation, or other processes familiar to those skilled in the art. The cell-free cellulase-containing fraction may then be concentrated (for example, via ultrafiltration), preserved, and/or stabilized prior to use. Alternatively, the primary cellulases are not separated from the cells, but are added to the enzymatic hydrolysis with the cells.

Decreasing the Glucose Inhibition of Family 6 Cellulases

The glucose inhibition constants of the Family 6 cellulase variants were determined by incubation of the enzyme in the presence of substrate at various concentrations of glucose. Activity of the cellulase was determined via a turbidometric assay with insoluble acid swollen cellulose as a substrate. By “turbidometric assay” it is meant an assay of the optical density of a suspension of particulates in a fluid, in which the fraction of incident light which is not scattered by the particles, and therefore directly transmitted through the suspension, is measured. “Nepholometry” is a related technique which measures the fraction of light which is scattered by the particles, typically from an observation angle of 90 degrees from the incident light.

The effect of amino acid substitutions at positions 103, 136, 186, 365 and 410, in combination with each other or with additional amino acid substitutions at positions 134 and 215 on the glucose tolerance of TrCel6A with substitution of the serine at position 413 with proline, was determined via a comparative study of variants of the parental Family 6 cellulases TrCel6A-S413P, HiCel6A and PcCel6A.

The absolute values of K_(G) for the Family 6 cellulase variants and the relative reductions in glucose inhibition over the parental Family 6 cellulase are shown in Table 3, below:

TABLE 3 Reduced Glucose Inhibition of Family 6 cellulase variants Amino Acid Substitution SEQ ID No: K_(G) (g/L) Relative K_(G) None (TrCel6A-S413P) 156 9.2 1.00 Y103A 37 25.1 2.73 Y103H 38 21.0 2.28 Y103K 39 39.1 4.26 Y103L 40 32.0 3.48 Y103M 41 26.0 2.83 Y103P 42 26.8 2.91 Y103R 43 24.2 2.63 Y103V 44 26.2 2.85 M134I 157 31.7 3.45 M134Q 158 23.7 2.58 M134T 159 31.2 3.39 M134V 160 24.6 2.67 M134Y 161 23.4 2.54 L136I 45 39.5 4.29 L136V 46 24.9 2.71 S186K 47 19.9 2.16 S186Y 48 23.8 2.59 G365D 49 17.6 1.91 G365E 50 21.1 2.29 G365Q 51 38.7 4.20 G365S 52 29.8 3.23 R410A 53 25.0 2.72 R410F 54 37.0 4.02 R410L 55 49.5 5.38 R410Q 56 37.8 4.11 R410S 57 24.5 2.66 M134V-L136I 62 48.6 5.28 L136I-L215I 63 37.5 4.08 M134V-L136I-L215I 71 61.9 6.73 H. insolens HiCel6A 23 31.9 1.00 wildtype Y107K 78 45.5 1.43 Y107L 79 61.0 1.91 Q139T 80 51.9 1.62 L141V 81 54.6 1.71 A194Y 82 63.2 1.98 P. chrysosporium wildtype 30 20.3 1.00 Y98K 83 65.5 3.22 Y98L 84 31.9 1.57 L131I 85 32.9 1.62 L131V 86 33.3 1.64 S182K 87 39.7 1.95 S182Y 88 46.4 2.28 G359Q 89 35.2 1.73 R404Q 90 47.4 2.33

By “relative K_(G)” it is mean the ratio of the absolute K_(G) of the Familiy 6 cellulase variant by the absolute K_(G) of the parental Family 6 cellulase from which the Family 6 cellulase variant is derived. As such, the Family 6 cellulase variant is said to exhibit “-fold” less inhibition by glucose than the parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived. For example, as shown in Table 3 the Y98K variant of the P. chrysosporium Family 6 cellulase exhibits a relative K_(G) of 3.22 and is therefore 3.22-fold less inhibited by glucose than the parental, wild-type P. chrysosporium Family 6 cellulase from which the Y98K variant is derived.

EXAMPLES

The present invention will be further illustrated in the following examples. However, it is to be understood that these examples are for illustrative purposes only and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention in any manner.

Example 1 describes the strains and vectors used in the following examples. Examples 2-5 describe the cloning of the TrCel6A-S413P gene and transformation in yeast, the making of error prone-PCR and site-saturation mutagenesis libraries of Cel6A, and the generation of combinatorial mutants. Examples 6 and 7 describe the expression of TrCel6A-S413P variants from microculture and the high-throughput screening to identify Family 6 cellulase variants with reduced inhibition by glucose. Examples 8 and 9 describe the expression and characterization of isolated and parental Family 6 cellulases with reduced inhibition by glucose. Examples 10-14 describe the construction, expression, purification, and characterization of PcCel6A-His6 and HiCel6A-His6 and their variants. Example 15 describes an immunoassay for measuring the concentration of TrCel6A variants.

Example 1 Strains and Vectors

Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain YDR483W BY4742 [14317] (MATα his3Δ1 leu2Δ0 lys2Δ0 ura3Δ0 Akre2) was obtained from ATCC (#4014317). Humicola insolens and Phanerochaete chrysosporium strains were obtained from ATCC® (#22082™ and #201542™, respectively). Escherichia coli strain DH5α (F φ80lacZΔM15 Δ(lacZYA-argF)U169 recA1 endA1 hsdR17(r_(k) ⁻, m_(k) ⁺) phoA supE44 thi-1 gyrA96 relA1λ⁻) was obtained from Invitrogen. The YEp352/PGK91-1 vector was obtained from the National Institute of Health. The YEpFLAGΔKpn 10-S413P vector is described in U.S. Patent Application 60/841,507. The YEpFLAG-1 vector was obtained from Sigma as a part of the Amino-Terminal Yeast FLAG Expression Kit. The pGEM T-easy vector was obtained from Promega.

Example 2 Cloning of the TrCel6A-S413P Gene into the YEp352/PGK91-1 and Transformation in Yeast

In order to facilitate cloning using NheI and KpnI restriction enzymes, the unique NheI site at position 1936 of the YEp352/PGK91-1 vector was blunted using the DNA Polymerase I large (Klenow) fragment to generate YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI. The TrCel6A-S413P gene was amplified by PCR from YEpFLAGΔKpn 10-S413P vector (U.S. Application No. 60/841,507) using primers 5′NheCel6A and 3′BglKpnCel6A. In parallel, the yeast α-factor leader sequence was amplified by PCR from the YEpFLAG-1 vector (Sigma) using primers (5′BglAlphaSS and 3′NheAlphaSS) to introduce restriction sites for BglII at the 5′ end and NheI at 3′ end of the amplicon.

The yeast α-factor leader sequence was isolated by BglII/NheI digestion and a three piece ligation performed with the TrCel6A-S413P gene (isolated by NheI/BglII digestion) and YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI vector (isolated by BglII digestion). The resulting vector YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P (FIG. 2) was transformed in yeast strain BY4742 using the procedure described by Gietz, R. D. and Woods, R. A. (2002). Primer sequences are listed below:

5′Bg1AlphaSS: (SEQ ID NO: 91) 5′ACC AAA AGA TCT ATG AGA TTT CCT TCA ATT 3′NheAlphaSS: (SEQ ID NO: 92) 5′TGA GCA GCT AGC CCT TTT ATC CAA AGA TAC 5′NheCe16A: (SEQ ID NO: 93) 5′AAA AGG GCT AGC TGC TCA AGC GTC TGG GGC 3′Bg1KpnCe16A: (SEQ ID NO: 94) 5′GAG CTC AGA TCT GGT ACC TTA CAG GAA CGA TGG GTT

Example 3 Making Error Prone-PCR Libraries

Random mutagenesis libraries were generated using two methods: a Mutazyme® II DNA polymerase method and a Mn²⁺/biased dNTP mix method. For the Mutazyme® II DNA polymerase method, a series of four independent PCR were performed using 10, 20, 30, and 40 ng of YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector and the Mutazyme® II DNA polymerase with primers YalphaN21 and 3′PGK-term. The amplification was done for 25 cycles. The four PCR products were pooled and diluted to 10 ng/μL. A second PCR mutagenesis step was performed using 30 ng of pooled PCR product with Mutazyme® II DNA polymerase using the same primers for 30 amplification cycles. The YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector was digested with NheI and KpnI and the empty vector fragment was isolated. This linear fragment and the final amplicon were transformed simultaneously and cloned by in vivo recombination into yeast strain BY4742 (Butler et al., 2003).

For the Mn²⁺/biased dNTP mix method, a PCR was performed using 25 ng YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector, 200 μM dATP, 200 μM dCTP, 240 μM dGTP, 200 μM dTTP, and 640 μM Mn²⁺ with Taq DNA polymerase (Sigma) with primers YalphaN21 and 3′PGK-term for 30 amplification cycles. The final amplicon was cloned into YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector as described above.

YalphaN21: 5′AGC ACA AAT AAC GGG TTA TTG (SEQ ID NO: 95) 3′PGK-term: 5′GCA ACA CCT GGC AAT TCC TTA CC (SEQ ID NO: 96)

Example 4 Making Site-Saturation Mutagenesis Libraries

Seven amino acid positions in TrCel6A-S413P (M134, L136, L215, Y103, S186, G365, and R410), identified during high-throughput screening (Example 7), were chosen for site-saturation mutagenesis in order to find an amino acid which further improves the tolerance to glucose. Site-saturation mutagenesis was performed by megaprimer PCR (two-step PCR reaction) using NNS primers (listed below), the YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector as template, and the Platinum® Taq DNA Polymerase High Fidelity (Invitrogen). The first-step PCR was done using the NNS primer and the complementary external primer (YalphaN21 or 3′PGK-term). The purified amplicon served as a megaprimer for the second-step PCR and the other complementary external primers were used to amplify the complete mutated gene. This final amplicon was then cloned into YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector as described in Example 3.

3′M134X: (SEQ ID NO: 97) 5′GAG TAT CTA GCC ASN NAA AAG AGG GAA C 3′L136X: (SEQ ID NO: 98) 5′CTT GTC AAG AGT ATC SNN CCA CAT AAA AG 3′L215X: (SEQ ID NO: 99) 5′GCT CAA TAA CCA GSN NGG TCC GGA TAT C 3′Y103X: (SEQ ID NO: 100) 5′CTT CAG AGG CGT ASN NTG CAT TGG CCC 3′S186X: (SEQ ID NO: 101) 5′CAC CAT CGG CAA TSN NGT ATT CGC CAT TC 5′G365X: (SEQ ID NO: 102) 5′CAG CAA CAG TGG NNS GAC TGG TGC AAT G 5′R410X: (SEQ ID NO: 103) 5′GAC AGC AGT GCG CCA NNS TTT GAC CCC CAC TGT GC

Example 5 Making Combinatorial Mutants

Based on the TrCel6A-S413P positive variants identified in Example 7 for tolerance to glucose, a set of three multiple mutants and one single mutant were designed over the parent TrCel6A-S413P (M134V-L136I, L136I-L215I, M134V-L136I-L215I, and M134V). For the M134V-L136I mutant, the YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector served as a template for a megaprimer PCR two-step reaction using the mutagenic primer 5′M134V-L136I, the external primer 3′PGK-term, and the Platinum® Taq DNA Polymerase High Fidelity (Invitrogen). The purified amplicon served as a megaprimer for the second-step PCR and the YalphaN21 external primers are used to amplified the complete mutated gene. This final amplicon and the purified YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector digested with XhoI and NruI were transformed simultaneously and cloned by in vivo recombination into yeast strain BY4742. For the L136I-L215I mutant, the NheI-EcoRV purified fragment and the purified YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P-L215I vector (isolated in Example 7) digested with XhoI and NruI were transformed simultaneously and cloned by in vivo recombination into yeast strain BY4742. For the M134V-L136I-L215I mutant, the purified megaprimer described above and the purified YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P-L215I vector (isolated in Example 7) digested with XhoI and NruI were transformed simultaneously and cloned by in vivo recombination into yeast strain BY4742. Finally, for the M134V mutant, the YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector served as a template for a megaprimer PCR two-step reaction using the mutagenic primer 5′M134V, the external primer 3′PGK-term, and the Platinum® Taq DNA Polymerase High Fidelity (Invitrogen). The purified amplicon served as a megaprimer for the second-step PCR and the YalphaN21 external primers are used to amplified the complete mutated gene. This final amplicon and the purified YEp352/PGK91-1ΔNheI-α_(ss)-TrCel6A-S413P vector digested with XhoI and NruI were transformed simultaneously and cloned by in vivo recombination into yeast strain BY4742.

5′M134V-L1361: (SEQ ID NO: 104) 5′GTT CCC TCT TTT GTG TGG ATA GAT ACT CTT GAC 5′M134V: (SEQ ID NO: 105) 5′GTT CCC TCT TTT GTG TGG CTA GAT ACT

Example 6 Expression and Isolation of TrCel6A-S413P and its Variants from Microplate Cultures

This example describes the selection and expression of TrCel6A-S413P variants from Saccharomyces cerevisiae for use in a high-throughput screening assay (Example 7).

Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformants, from Example 2-5, were grown on plates containing synthetic complete medium (SC: 2% agar w/v, 0.17% yeast nitrogen base w/v, 0.078%-Ura drop-out supplement w/v, 2% glucose w/v, 2% casamino acids w/v, 0.5% ammonium sulfate w/v, pH 5.5) and 0.12% Azo-barley-β-glucan (Megazyme) for 4 days at 30° C.

Colonies showing visible clearing halos, after an overnight incubation at 45° C., were selected for liquid media pre-cultures by toothpick inoculation of 150 μL synthetic complete media (SC: 0.17% yeast nitrogen base w/v, 0.078%-Ura drop-out supplement w/v, 2% glucose w/v, 2% casamino acids w/v, 0.5% ammonium sulfate w/v, pH 5.5) in 96-well microplates. Pre-cultures were grown overnight (16-18 hr) at 30° C. and 300 rpm to stationary phase. For expression culture inoculation, 25 μL of pre-culture was used to inoculate 1 mL of SC media in deepwell microplates containing one glass bead. Expression cultures were grown for 3 days at 30° C. and 250 rpm with humidity control. Plates were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes to pellet cells and supernatant was aspirated for screening assays (Example 7). To the remaining pre-culture, stocks were prepared by the addition of glycerol to a final concentration of 15% and stored at −80° C.

Example 7 Screening of Trichoderma reesei Cel6A Gene Libraries for Family 6 Cellulase Variant with Tolerance to Glucose

This example describes the screening of Trichoderma reesei Cel6A-S413P variants with reduced inhibition by glucose by comparison to the parent TrCel6A-S413P that had been cloned into Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

TrCel6-S413P variants from yeast microcultures as described in Example 6 were tested in a 0.25 mL citrate buffered (pH 5) cellulose hydrolysis assay using a 96-well microplate format. An aliquot of supernatant from each variant was added to a first well containing 30 g/L glucose and to a second well absent of glucose and incubated with cellulose, at a concentration 0.067% w/v, for 19 hours at 50° C. Yeast supernatants were complemented with Trichoderma reesei Cel7B and Cel5A (40 mg protein/g cellulose) and 125 IU/g cellulose A. niger beta-glucosidase. Contained in each 96-well microplate were six parent TrCel6A-S413P controls used for comparison. Cellulase activity was measured by turbidometry. A ±glucose activity ratio was calculated for all TrCel6A variants and the parental TrCel6A-S413P by dividing the cellulase activity in the presence of glucose by the cellulase activity in the absence of glucose. The ±glucose activity ratio for each TrCel6A-S413P variant was compared to the average of six parental TrCel6A-S413P controls on a particular microplate and positives were selected at the 95% confidence level using a t-test. All positive variants were produced again in microculture and re-screened to reduce the number of false positives. Table 4 summarizes the screening results obtained for the EP-PCR library (Example 3) and the seven SSM libraries (Example 4).

TABLE 4 Screening Results of EP-PCR and SSM Libraries Library # of Variants Screened # of Positives EP-PCR 4800 43 SSM-M134 100 11 SSM-L136 40 2 SSM-L215 68 0 SSM-Y103 110 16 SSM-S186 83 5 SSM-G365 104 8 SSM-R410 142 7

Example 8 Expression and Concentration of TrCel6A-S413P and its Variants from Large Scale Cultures

Two 500 mL volumes of sterile SC*-Ura media (0.77 g/L-Ura drop out supplement, 1.7 g/L yeast nitrogen base, 5 g/L (NH₄)₂SO₄, 20 g/L casamino acids, 20 g/L glucose) were inoculated with 10 mL of overnight cultures of transformed Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown from cells freshly picked from an agar plate. The cultures were then incubated for 96 hours at 30° C. with shaking at 200 rpm.

After incubation, each pair of 500 mL yeast cultures was pooled, centrifuged for 10 minutes at 9000 rpm and the pellet (containing yeast cells) discarded. The supernatant pH was adjusted to 5.0 and then allowed to cool to 4° C. for an hour. Subsequent to cooling, 625 g (NH₄)₂SO₄ was added to bring the yeast supernatant to 93% saturation. Precipitation was allowed to occur over a period of 16 hours at 4° C. with constant stirring. The next day the precipitate was centrifuged for 15 minutes at 9000 rpm and the supernatant discarded.

The pellet was resuspended with pipetting in a total volume of 10 mL of 50 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.0. Once the pellet was resuspended, the solution was mixed with gentle inversion for 30 minutes. The solution was then centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 3 minutes to pellet any insoluble material. The supernatant was removed carefully with a pipette to prevent disruption of the pellet and retained. The concentration of TrCel6A-S413P in this supernatant was determined by ELISA using TrCel6A-specific antibodies with a standard curve of purified TrCel6A-S413P as described in Example 15, below. Purity of the samples was verified by SDS-PAGE analysis such as that shown for TrCel6A-S413P in FIG. 16.

Example 9 Enzymatic Characterization of Family 6 Cellulase Variants

Acid swollen cellulose (ASC) was produced from Sigmacell50 using procedures known to those skilled in the art. The ASC was slurried in 150 mM citrate, pH 5.0, to a final concentration of 1.8 g cellulose/L and degassed under vacuum for 5 minutes with constant stirring.

Activity of the TrCel6A-S413P was monitored as a decrease in the absorbance of the slurry, diluted to 0.6 g cellulose/L either by water or a glucose solution, at 600 nm after the addition of cellulase. The sample was maintained at 50° C. and was stirred constantly during data collection. A twin-beam absorbance apparatus was used to subtract the absorbance of a no-enzyme control slurry in real time for each sample. Immediately after initiation of data acquisition, 50 mg/g cellulose of Trichoderma cellulase lacking Cel7A and Cel6A was added to all cuvettes. In the absence of cellobiohydrolases there is no significant change in the size of substrate particles and therefore no difference in the apparent absorbance due to an approximately constant size of the scatterers. During this time, the cellobiohydrolase-free enzyme mixture creates new chain ends, which are sites of enzymatic action by cellobiohydrolases. Five minutes after starting data acquisition, a parental Family 6 cellulase or a Family 6 cellulase variants added to a total dose of 50 mg/g. Cellobiohydrolases, such as a parental Family 6 cellulase or a Family 6 cellulase variant, effect a decrease in the size of the substrate particles via hydrolysis and the initial slope of the absorbance decrease was recorded as a measure of activity. As only the linear portion of the activity trace is used and only cellobiohydrolases, such as a parental Family 6 cellulase or a Family 6 cellulase variant, can reduce the apparent absorbance of the substrate, the assay is specific for the activity of the Cel6A alone and is not influenced by any potential inhibition of the non-cellobiohydrolase enzymes. Moreover, any influence of these enzymes would be the same when comparing a parental Family 6 cellulase to a Famil6 cellulase variant with decreased inhibition by glucose. Data collected during a typical experiment with TrCel6A-S413P are depicted in FIG. 4.

Activity data were collected in the absence of glucose and the presence of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 g/L glucose. Five replicate data sets were collected for each of these conditions. Data were plotted as absorbance slope vs. glucose concentration and fit with a model of simple linear inhibition using the Solver function in Microsoft Excel. The best fit values of K_(G) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using standard statistical methods. The mean value of the slope measured in the absence of glucose was taken as a measure of specific activity. A type 2, two-tailed t-test was used to compare the K_(G) and specific activity of each TrCel6A-S413P variant tested to the parameter values of the parent enzyme.

As shown by the results in Table 5, below, and in FIGS. 5-15, all of the TrCel6A-S413P variants show at least 1.8-fold and as much as 6.73-fold reductions in glucose inhibition over the parental TrCel6A.

TABLE 5 Glucose inhibition constants for Family 6 cellulase variants derived from TrCel6A-S413P Amino Acid 95% Confidence Relative Substitution K_(G) (g/L) Intervals K_(G) P Value None 9.2  7.7-11.0 1.00 1.00 (TrCel6A-S413P) Y103A 25.1 21.2-30.2 2.73 1.5E−08 Y103H 21.0 18.2-24.6 2.28 2.2E−07 Y103K 39.1 35.3-45.2 4.26 3.2E−11 Y103L 32.0 28.1-36.9 3.48 2.6E−10 Y103M 26.0 18.8-36.4 2.83 1.4E−07 Y103P 26.8 22.9-32.2 2.91 4.4E−09 Y103R 24.2 19.8-29.9 2.63 4.2E−08 Y103V 26.2 21.1-32.8 2.85 1.5E−08 M134I 31.7 23.0-44.3 3.45 1.7E−04 M134Q 23.7 20.6-27.7 2.58 2.3E−08 M134T 31.2 25.1-39.4 3.39 1.1E−08 M134V 24.6 20.9-29.4 2.67 2.0E−08 M134Y 23.4 18.1-30.1 2.54 1.1E−03 L136I 39.5 35.5-44.7 4.29 2.8E−11 L136V 24.9 21.7-28.5 2.71 8.9E−09 S186K 19.9 14.2-27.5 2.16 2.6E−05 S186Y 23.8 17.5-33.3 2.59 2.2E−03 G365D 17.6 12.4-24.7 1.91 3.5E−04 G365E 21.1 16.8-27.3 2.29 3.8E−03 G365Q 38.7 33.1-46.2 4.20 4.1E−11 G365S 29.8 23.2-38.6 3.23 3.7E−09 R410A 25.0 17.0-37.4 2.72 1.0E−06 R410F 37.0 26.9-51.7 4.02 5.1E−10 R410L 49.5 27.0-97.9 5.38 8.1E−10 R410Q 37.8 28.6-51.2 4.11 2.0E−10 R410S 24.5 15.8-38.0 2.66 4.1E−06 M134V-L136I 48.6 42.3-57.0 5.28 5.8E−12 L136I-L215I 37.5 32.7-43.6 4.08 4.7E−11 M134V-L136I- 61.9 50.9-76.3 6.73 1.1E−12 L215I

Example 10 Generation of HiCel6A and PcCel6A and Their Cloning into the Yep352/PGK91-1-α_(ss)-6His Vector

Construction of the YEp352/PGK91-1-α_(ss)-6His Vector

A DNA adapter containing SpeI, NheI, KpnI, and EcoRI restriction sites was prepared by annealing primers AT044 and AT045 together. The adapter contains sequences coding for six histidine residues downstream of the SpeI site and upstream of the NheI site. The adapter was inserted into a YEp based-plasmid (YEp352/PGK91-1α_(ss)) containing the pgk1 promoter, alpha mating factor secretion signal, and pgk1 terminator sequences to make plasmid YEp352/PGK91-1/α_(ss)6HNKE. Specifically, the linker was inserted as a NheI/EcoRI fragment into the NheI and EcoRI sites located downstream of the alpha mating factor secretion signal and upstream of the pgk1 terminator. Primer sequences are shown below:

AT044: (SEQ ID NO: 106) 5′CTA GTC ATC ACC ATC ACC ATC ACG CTA GCT GAT CAC TGA GGT ACC G AT045: (SEQ ID NO: 107) 5′AAT TCG GTA CCT CAG TGA TCA GCT AGC GTG ATG GTG ATG GTG ATG A Generation of YEp352/PGK91-1-α_(ss)-6H-HiCel6A

Lyophilized H. insolens was resuspended in 300 μL sterile H₂O and 50 μL was spreaded onto Emerson YPSS pH 7 agar plate (0.4% Yeast extract, 0.1% K₂HPO₄, 0.05% MgSO₄.7H₂O, 1.5% Glucose, 1.5% Agar). Fungus was incubated for 6 days at 45° C. then spores were inoculated in Novo media (as per Barbesgaard U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,307): Incubation for 48 hours at 37° C. in 100 mL growth phase media (2.4% CSL, 2.4% Glucose, 0.5% Soy oil, pH adjusted to 5.5, 0.5% CaCO3), then 6 mL of pre-culture was transferred into 100 mL production phase media (0.25% NH₄NO₃, 0.56% KH₂PO₄, 0.44% K₂HPO₄, 0.075% MgSO₄.7H₂O, 2% Sigmacell, pH adjusted to 7, 0.25% CaCO₃) and culture was incubated for up to 4 days prior to biomass harvest. Then, 50 mg of biomass was used to isolate total RNA with the Absolutely RNA® Miniprep Kit (Stratagene) according to the manufacturer procedure. Total cDNA was generated from the total RNA using the SuperScript™II Reverse Transcriptase (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer procedure. Gene encoding for HiCel6A was amplified from the cDNA using the following primers:

5′HiCe16A-cDNA (SEQ ID NO: 108) 5′CTA TTG CTA GCT GTG CCC CGA CTT GGG GCC AGT GC 3′HiCe16A-cDNA (SEQ ID NO: 109) 5′CTA TTG AAT TCG GTA CCT CAG AAC GGC GGA TTG GCA TTA CGA AG

The PCR amplicon was cloned into the pGEM®-T Easy vector by TA-cloning according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Plasmid pGEM-HiCel6A was digested with NheI and EcoRI to release the HiCel6A gene. This fragment was purified and ligated into the NheI and EcoRI sites of YEp352/PGK91-1/α_(ss)6HNKE to obtain YEp352/PGK91-1/α_(ss)6H-HiCel6A.

Generation of YEp352/PGK91-1-α_(ss)-6H-PcCel6A

Lyophilized P. chrysosporium was resuspended in 300 μL sterile H₂O and 50 μL were spreaded onto PDA plates. Plates were incubated at 24° C. for 4 days. Spores for P. chrysosporium were inoculated on a cellophane circle on top of a PDA plate and biomass was harvested after 4-6 days at 24° C. Then, 50 mg of biomass was used to isolate total RNA with the Absolutely RNA® Miniprep Kit (Stratagene) according to the manufacturer procedure. Total cDNA was generated from the total RNA using the SuperScript™II Reverse Transcriptase (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer procedure. Gene encoding for PcCel6A was amplified from the cDNA using the following primers (which introduced an N-terminal NheI site and C-terminal KpnI and EcoRI sites):

5′PcCe16A-cDNA (SEQ ID NO: 110) 5′CTA TTG CTA GCT CGG AGT GGG GAC AGT GCG GTG GC 3′PcCe16A-cDNA (SEQ ID NO: 111) 5′CTA TTG AAT TCG GTA CCC TAC AGC GGC GGG TTG GCA GCA GAA AC The PCR amplicon was cloned into the pGEM®-T Easy vector by TA-cloning according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Plasmid pGEM-PcCel6A was digested with NheI and EcoRI to release the PcCel6A gene. This fragment was purified and ligated into the NheI and EcoRI sites of YEp352/PGK91-1/α_(ss)6HNKE to obtain YEp352/PGK91-1/α_(ss)6H-PcCel6A.

Example 11 Mutagenesis of Vectors with PcCel6A-His6 and HiCel6A-His6 and Their Variants

The HiCel6A and PcCel6A variants were constructed using a two-step PCR method involving megaprimer synthesis followed by PCR-mediated overlap extension (Vallejo et al., 1994). All PCR reactions were carried out using the High Fidelity iProof Taq Polymerase (BioRad). The plasmids YEp352/PGK91-1-α_(ss)-6H-HiCel6A and YEp352/PGK91-1-α_(ss)-6H-PcCel6A served as the templates for both Humicola insolens and Phanerochaete chrysosporium, respectively. Megaprimers upstream of (and including) the mutagenesis site were amplified using external primer YaN21 in combination with an internal reverse primer (i.e. DK022 for HiCel6A Y107L; refer to Table 6) specific to a given glucose tolerant variant. Similarly, megaprimers downstream of (and including) the mutagenesis site were amplified using the external primer PGKterm together with an internal forward primer (i.e. DK021 for HiCel6A Y107L; refer to Table 6) unique for a particular glucose tolerant variant. The internal primers were designed to introduce the desired glucose tolerant mutations into the Cel6A homologues. The megaprimers were purified using the Wizard® SV Gel and PCR Clean-Up System (Promega).

TABLE 6 List of primers used to introduce glucose tolerant mutations within the H. insolens and P. chrysosporium Ce16A homologues. Primer SEQ ID name Homolog Variant NO: Sequence DK021 HiCe16A Y107L 112 CTCTGGGCCAACAACCTGTACCGCTCTGAGGTC DK022 HiCe16A Y107L 113 GACCTCAGAGCGGTACAGGTTGTTGGCCCAGAG DK023 HiCe16A Y107K 114 CTCTGGGCCAACAACAAGTACCGCTCTGAGGTC DK024 HiCe16A Y107K 115 GACCTCAGAGCGGTACTTGTTGTTGGCCCAGAG DK025 HiCe16A Q139I 116 GAGGTCCCGAGCTTCATCTGGCTCGACCGCAAC DK026 HiCe16A Q139I 117 GTTGCGGTCGAGCCAGATGAAGCTCGGGACCTC DK027 HiCe16A Q139T 118 GAGGTCCCGAGCTTCACCTGGCTCGACCGCAAC DK028 HiCe16A Q139T 119 GTTGCGGTCGAGCCAGGTGAAGCTCGGGACCTC DK029 HiCe16A L141I 120 CCGAGCTTCCAGTGGATCGACCGCAACGTCACG DK030 HiCe16A L141I 121 CGTGACGTTGCGGTCGATCCACTGGAAGCTCGG DK031 HiCe16A L141V 122 CCGAGCTTCCAGTGGGTCGACCGCAACGTCACG DK032 HiCe16A L141V 123 CGTGACGTTGCGGTCGACCCACTGGAAGCTCGG DK033 HiCe16A A194Y 124 TCGAACGGCGAGTGGTACATCGCCAACAACGGC DK034 HiCe16A A194Y 125 GCCGTTGTTGGCGATGTACCACTCGCCGTTCGA DK035 HiCe16A A194K 126 TCGAACGGCGAGTGGAAGATCGCCAACAACGGC DK036 HiCe16A A194K 127 GCCGTTGTTGGCGATCTTCCACTCGCCGTTCGA DK037 HiCe16A G372Q 128 GGCCAGAAGGAATGGCAGCACTGGTGCAATGCC DK038 HiCe16A G372Q 129 GGCATTGCACCAGTGCTGCCATTCCTTCTGGCC DK039 HiCe16A R417Q 130 GACACGACCGCTGCCCAGTACGACTACCACTGC DK040 HiCe16A R417Q 131 GCAGTGGTAGTCGTACTGGGCAGCGGTCGTGTC DK041 HiCe16A R417F 132 GACACGACCGCTGCCTTCTACGACTACCACTGC DK042 HiCe16A R417F 133 GCAGTGGTAGTCGTAGAAGGCAGCGGTCGTGTC DK043 PcCe16A Y98L 134 GATCTTCCTCAGCCCTCTGTACGCGAACGAGGTC DK044 PcCe16A Y98L 135 GACCTCGTTCGCGTACAGAGGGCTGAGGAAGATC DK045 PcCe16A Y98K 136 GATCTTCCTCAGCCCTAAGTACGCGAACGAGGTC DK046 PcCe16A Y98K 137 GACCTCGTTCGCGTACTTAGGGCTGAGGAAGATC DK047 PcCe16A T1291 138 GCAAATATCCCCACTTTCATCTGGCTGGACTCTGTC DK048 PcCe16A T1291 139 GACAGAGTCCAGCCAGATGAAAGTGGGGATATTTGC DK049 PcCe16A T129Q 140 GCAAATATCCCCACTTTCCAGTGGCTGGACTCTGTC DK050 PcCe16A T129Q 141 GACAGAGTCCAGCCACTGGAAAGTGGGGATATTTGC DK051 PcCe16A L131I 142 CCCACTTTCACGTGGATCGACTCTGTCGCGAAG DK052 PcCe16A L131I 143 CTTCGCGACAGAGTCGATCCACGTGAAAGTGGG DK053 PcCe16A L131V 144 CCCACTTTCACGTGGGTCGACTCTGTCGCGAAG DK054 PcCe16A L131V 145 CTTCGCGACAGAGTCGACCCACGTGAAAGTGGG DK055 PcCe16A S182Y 146 TCCAACGGAGAGTTCTACATTGCCAACAACGGA DK056 PcCe16A S182Y 147 TCCGTTGTTGGCAATGTAGAACTCTCCGTTGGA DK057 PcCe16A S182K 148 TCCAACGGAGAGTTCAAGATTGCCAACAACGGA DK058 PcCe16A S182K 149 TCCGTTGTTGGCAATCTTGAACTCTCCGTTGGA DK059 PcCe16A G359Q 150 CATCCGCCAACAGTGGCAGGACTGGTGCAACATC DK060 PcCe16A G359Q 151 GATGTTGCACCAGTCCTGCCACTGTTGGCGGATG DK061 PcCe16A R404Q 152 CCAACAGCTCCTCGCCCCAGTACGACTCGACTTGTTC DK062 PcCe16A R404Q 153 GAACAAGTCGAGTCGTACTGGGGCGAGGAGCTGTTGG DK063 PcCe16A R404F 154 CCAACAGCTCCTCGCCCTTCTACGACTCGACTTGTTC DK064 PcCe16A R404F 155 GAACAAGTCGAGTCGTAGAAGGGCGAGGAGCTGTTGG YαLN21 PGK — 95 AGCACAAATAACGGGTTATTG plasmid PGKterm PGK — 96 GCAACACCTGGCAATTCCTTACC plasmid Amino acids are italicized in cases where the original residue differs from that found in the homologous T. reesei sequence. With respect to the primer sequences, underlined nucleotides effect the desired amino acid substitution. External plasmid primers are included.

During the second round of PCR, both megaprimers of a desired construct were allowed to anneal and extend for 10 cycles to generate the final template. The external primers YαN21 and PGKterm were then added for another 25 cycles to amplify the final product, which was subsequently purified using the Wizard® SV Gel and PCR Clean-Up System. Both the purified PCR product and the linearized vector YEp352/PGK91-1α_(ss)-6HNKE (digested with NheI+KpnI) were transformed and cloned via in vivo recombination within the BY4742 yeast strain using the procedure described by Gietz and Woods (2002). For each construct, the vector was isolated from the transformed yeast using a method modified from Hoffman and Winston (Hoffman and Winston, 1987) and transformed in E. coli DH5α chemically-competent cells. Plasmids were isolated from the E. coli cells using the Wizard® Plus SV Minipreps DNA Purification System (Promega). The integrity of the cloned region of all the variants was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis.

Example 12 Expression and Concentration of PcCel6A-His6 and HiCel6A-His6 and Their Variants from Large Scale Cultures

Two 500 mL volumes of sterile SC*-Ura media (0.77 g/L-Ura drop out supplement, 1.7 g/L yeast nitrogen base, 5 g/L (NH₄)₂SO₄, 20 g/L casamino acids, 20 g/L glucose) were inoculated with 10 mL of overnight cultures of transformed Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown from cells freshly picked from an agar plate. The cultures were then incubated for 96 hours at 30° C. with shaking at 200 rpm.

After incubation, each pair of 500 mL yeast cultures was pooled, centrifuged for 10 minutes at 9000 rpm and the pellet (containing yeast cells) discarded. The supernatant pH was adjusted to 5.0 and then allowed to cool to 4° C. for an hour. BSA (0.1 g) was added to help co-precipitate Cel6A. Subsequent to cooling, 559 g (NH₄)₂SO₄ was added to bring the yeast supernatant to 85% saturation. Precipitation was allowed to occur over a period of 16 hours at 4° C. with constant stirring. The next day the precipitate was centrifuged for 15 minutes at 9000 rpm and the supernatant discarded.

The pellet was resuspended with pipetting in a total volume of 50 mL binding buffer (200 mM NaCl, 20 mM sodium phosphate, 30 mM imidazole, pH 7.4). Once the pellet was resuspended, the solution was mixed with gentle inversion for 30 minutes at 4° C. The solution was then filtered with glass fiber filter paper to remove insoluble material before purification as described in Example 13.

Example 13 Purification of PcCel6A-His6 and HiCel6A-His6 and Their Variants

For activity assays (Example 14), the His-tagged parental Humicola Cel6A and Phanerochaete Cel6A cellulases and their respective variants were purified from culture supernatants using immobilized metal affinity chromatography. Prior to loading proteins onto the His-trap column, the Ni²⁺ resin was equilibrated with binding buffer (200 mM NaCl, 20 mM sodium phosphate, 30 mM imidazole, pH 7.4). The culture supernatant was adjusted to the same salt concentrations and pH as the binding buffer and applied to a 1 mL His-trap column (GE HealthcareO at a flow rate of 0.5-1.0 mL/min. The column was then washed with the same binding buffer until OD_(280nm) reached a steady baseline. The bound His-tagged Cel6A was eluted from the column with elution buffer (20 mM sodium phosphate, 500 mM imidazole, pH 7.4).

The elution buffer was removed from the purified proteins by buffer exchange and 5 mL of the eluted fractions was added to 15 mL of 50 mM citrate pH 5.0 buffer and loaded onto a Centricon Plus-20 (polyethersulfone membrane, nominal molecular weight cut-off of 5 kDa). The column was centrifuged at 1600×g for 10 minutes or until the volume remaining in the column was 2.5 mL. At this point, 17.5 mL of 50 mM citrate buffer pH 5.0 was further added to the column and the centrifugation repeated. The last centrifugation was done in the same fashion until only 1-2 mL remained in the column. The protein concentration of this final supernatent determined using a Biorad protein assay using a Trichoderma reesei cellulase of known protein concentration. Purity of the parental and variant PcCel6A and HiCel6A was confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis (FIG. 16).

Example 14 Enzymatic Characterization of PcCel6A-His6 and HiCel6A-His6 and Their Variants

Activity assays were performed as described in Example 9 using the parental PcCel6A-His6 and HiCel6A-His6 cellulases and variants derived therefrom that were purified from yeast culture filtrates as described in Example 13, above. As shown by the results in Table 7, below, all of the HiCel6A and PcCel6A variants show at least 1.43-fold and as much as 3.22-fold less inhibition by glucose over the corresponding parental Family 6 cellulase control.

TABLE 7 Glucose inhibition constants for parental PcCel6A and HiCel6A cellulases and Family 6 cellulase variants derived from PcCel6A and HiCel6A. Amino Acid Equivalent TrCel6A 95% Confidence Relative P Value vs. Substitution position K_(G) (g/L) Intervals K_(G) wildtype P. chrysosporium — 20.3 16.7-24.9 1.00 1.00 wildtype Y98K 103 65.5 52.9-82.7 3.22 2.1E−08 Y98L 103 31.9 26.1-39.1 1.57 2.8E−03 L131I 136 32.9 28.7-38.0 1.62 7.1E−04 L131V 136 33.3 26.3-42.4 1.64 2.1E−03 S182K 186 39.7 32.3-49.5 1.95 5.5E−05 S182Y 186 46.4 36.0-60.6 2.28 7.4E−06 G359Q 365 35.2 27.0-46.2 1.73 1.3E−03 R404Q 410 47.4 31.6-74.4 2.33 7.6E−05 H. insolens wildtype — 31.9 26.4-38.8 1.00 1.00 Y107K 103 45.5 35.3-59.9 1.43 2.6E−02 Y107L 103 61.0 46.3-82.3 1.91 2.1E−04 Q139T 134 51.9 40.6-67.8 1.62 2.6E−03 L141V 136 54.6 41.7-73.8 1.71 1.5E−03 A194Y 186 63.2 50.2-81.7 1.98 5.2E−05

Example 15 Determination of TrCel6A-S413P Concentration by ELISA

Supernatants and purified standard were diluted in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.2, and incubated overnight at 4° C. in microtitre plates (Costar EIA #9018). Following overnight incubation, these plates were washed with PBS containing 0.1% Tween-20 (PBS/Tween) and then incubated in PBS containing 1% bovine serum albumin (PBS/BSA) for 1 hr at room temperature. Blocked microtitre wells were washed with PBS/Tween. Rabbit polyclonal antisera specific for TrCel6A was diluted in PBS/BSA, added to the microtitre plates and incubated for 2 hr at room temperature. Plates were washed and incubated with a goat anti-rabbit antibody coupled to horseradish peroxidase (Sigma #A6154), diluted 1/2000 in PBS/BSA, for 1 hr at room temperature. After washing, 100 μL of tetramethylbenzidine (Sigma #8665) was added to well and incubated for 30 min at room temperature. The absorbance at 360 nm was measured in each well and converted into protein concentration using the TrCel6A standard curve.

PBS contains:

Component g/L NaCl 80 KCl 2 Na₂HPO₄ 14.4 KH₂PO₄ 2.4

REFERENCES

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1. A Family 6 cellulase variant comprising one or more than one of the amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of: a basic, non-polar or proline residue at position 103 (X103H, K, R, A, V, L, P, M); a valine or isoleucine residue at position 136 (X136V, I); a tyrosine or lysine residues at position 186 (X186Y, K); an acidic, glutamine or serine residue at position 365 (X365D, E, Q, S); and an alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue at position 410 (X410A, F, L, Q, S), said position determined from alignment of a parental Family 6 cellulase with a Trichoderma reesei Cel6A amino acid sequence as defined in SEQ ID NO: 1 and wherein said Family 6 cellulase variant exhibits at least about 1.4-fold less inhibition by glucose than the parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived.
 2. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, wherein said Family 6 cellulase variant comprises an amino acid sequence which is at least about 45% to about 100% identical to amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 3. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 2, wherein said Family 6 cellulase variant comprises an amino acid sequence which is at least about 55% to about 100% identical to amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 4. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 3, wherein the amino acid sequence of said Family 6 cellulase variant is at least about 63% identical to amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 5. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 4, wherein the amino acid sequence of said Family 6 cellulase variant is at least about 95% identical to amino acids 83-447 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 6. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, wherein said basic residue at position 103 is a histidine, arginine or lysine residue.
 7. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, wherein said non-polar residue at position 103 is an alanine, valine, methionine or leucine residue.
 8. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, wherein said acidic residue at position 365 is aspartic acid or glutamic acid.
 9. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, further comprising an isoleucine valine, threonine, tyrosine or glutamine residue at position
 134. 10. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, further comprising an isoleucine residue at position
 215. 11. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, further comprising a proline residue at position
 413. 12. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, wherein said Family 6 cellulase variant exhibits at least about 1.8-fold less inhibition by glucose than the parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived.
 13. The Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1, wherein said parental Family 6 cellulase from which said Family 6 cellulase variant is derived does not have a naturally-occurring basic, non-polar or proline residue at position 103, a naturally-occurring valine or isoleucine residue at position 136, a naturally-occurring tyrosine or lysine residues at position 186, a naturally-occurring acidic, glutamine or serine residue at position 365, or a naturally-occurring alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamine or serine residue at position
 410. 14. A genetic construct comprising DNA encoding the Family 6 cellulase variant of claim
 1. 15. The genetic construct of claim 14, further comprising regulatory DNA sequences that direct the expression of secretion of the Family 6 cellulase variant.
 16. The genetic construct of claim 15, in which the regulatory DNA sequences are homologous to a host organism used to produce the Family 6 cellulase variant.
 17. A genetically modified microbe comprising the genetic construct of claim
 14. 18. The genetically modified microbe of claim 17, wherein said microbe is a species of yeast or filamentous fungus.
 19. The genetically modified microbe of claim 18, wherein said microbe is a species of Saccharomyces, Pichia, Trichoderma, Hypocrea, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Humicola, Neurospora.
 20. The genetically modified microbe of claim 19, wherein said microbe is Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Trichoderma reesei.
 21. A process for producing the Family 6 cellulase variant of claim 1 comprising, growing the genetically modified microbe of claim 17 under conditions that induce the expression and secretion of the Family 6 cellulase variant and recovering the Family 6 cellulase variant from the culture medium.
 22. A process for the hydrolyzing a cellulosic substrate to glucose comprising, treating the cellulosic substrate with a cellulase composition so as to effect the conversion of the cellulose to glucose, said cellulase composition comprising the Family 6 cellulase variant of claim
 1. 23. The process of claim 22, wherein the cellulosic substrate is a pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock.
 24. The process of claim 23, wherein the pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock comprises corn stover, wheat straw, barley straw, rice straw, oat straw, canola straw, soybean stover; corn fiber, sugar beet pulp, pulp mill fines and rejects, sugar cane bagasse, hardwood, softwood, sawdust, switch grass, miscanthus, cord grass, and reed canary grass.
 25. A Family 6 cellulase variant selected from the group consisting of TrCel6A-Y103A-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 37); TrCel6A-Y103H-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 38); TrCel6A-Y103K-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 39); TrCel6A-Y103L-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 40); TrCel6A-Y103M-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 41); TrCel6A-Y103P-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 42); TrCel6A-Y103R-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 43); TrCel6A-Y103V-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 44); TrCel6A-L136I-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 45); TrCel6A-L136V-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 46); TrCel6A-S186K-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 47); TrCel6A-S186Y-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 48); TrCel6A-G365D-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 49); TrCel6A-G365E-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 50); TrCel6A-G365Q-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 51); TrCel6A-G365S-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 52); TrCel6A-R410A-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 53); TrCel6A-R410F-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 54); TrCel6A-R410L-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 55); TrCel6A-R410Q-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 56); TrCel6A-R410S-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 57); TrCel6A-M134V-L136I-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 62); TrCel6A-L136I-L215I-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 63); TrCel6A-M134V-L136I-L215I-S413P (SEQ ID NO: 71); HiCel6A-Y107K (SEQ ID NO: 78); HiCel6A-Y107L (SEQ ID NO: 79); HiCel6A-Q139T (SEQ ID NO: 80); HiCel6A-L141V (SEQ ID NO: 81); HiCel6A-A194Y (SEQ ID NO: 82); PcCel6A-Y98K (SEQ ID NO: 83); PcCel6A-Y98L (SEQ ID NO: 84); PcCel6A-L131I (SEQ ID NO: 85); PcCel6A-L131V (SEQ ID NO: 86); PcCel6A-S182K (SEQ ID NO: 87); PcCel6A-S182Y (SEQ ID NO: 88); PcCel6A-G359Q (SEQ ID NO: 89); and PcCel6A-R404Q (SEQ ID NO: 90), wherein said Family 6 cellulase variant exhibits at least 1.4-fold less inhibition by glucose than a parental Family 6 cellulase from which it is derived. 